Greg Eckles named secondary schools director Head of curriculum, staff development will replace McDowell

Anne HaddadTHE BALTIMORE SUN

Carroll County's new director of secondary schools will be Greg Eckles, now director of curriculum and staff development and a former principal of North Carroll High School.

Eckles will replace Peter B. McDowell, who announced last month that he will retire at the end of this month. While many people inside the school system were expecting one of the current high school principals to succeed McDowell, the position was never advertised.

Superintendent Brian Lockard said yesterday that he chose to ask Eckles to take McDowell's place because of his experience as a principal and a director and to advertise the curriculum director position instead.

"This is a lateral move," Lockard said. "I am confident he will do as outstanding a job as director of secondary schools as he did as director of [curriculum and development]."

Eckles came to Carroll County in 1987 as principal at North Carroll High School.

Before that, he had been a county supervisor of science and then an assistant principal at a high school in Charlottesville, Va. He also was a science teacher at a high school in Upper Dublin, Pa., for 12 years earlier in his career.

He has a doctorate in curriculum development from Temple University and lives in Westminster.

At North Carroll, he led the staff in pioneering the four-period day in the county, at a time when only one other high school in the state had tried the four-period day.

Now, four of Carroll's five high schools have adopted that schedule of four 90-minute periods instead of seven 45-minute classes.

Eckles said that when Lockard approached him about the move, his experience with the four-period day didn't come up.

"I've got a lot of experience with secondary schools," Eckles said. "I think it had more to do with that. I think this was kind of a sudden thing, and that's why this switch came about.

"It really was not clear-cut for me, to begin with, but I see some exciting challenges," Eckles said. "I can see the value of my moving into that position because of my training and experience. I bring both sides: I bring the curricular side, which is important, as well as experience as a secondary teacher and a secondary administrator."